A few weeks ago, I posted the diary
Telling Off Tom Davis (R-VA 11th District). The TV Guide blurb version is that I ran into him by chance and told him the expurgated version of what I thought of his vote for the Military Commissions bill. Since this was my first diary, I was very pleased with all the thoughtful and constructive comments it received. I considered the episode closed once the final comment was posted.
It seems I was wrong. Barely a week later, something very strange happened.
My fiancé and I were flying to Ohio for
OVFF, the largest
filk convention. He tried to print our boarding passes the night before our flight, but could only print his.
At the airport the next day, we tried to check in and print my boarding pass at an automated kiosk. Not only wouldn't it print, but a message appeared that told me to go stand in the airline's Information line.
By the time I reached the woman at the desk, it was obvious we were going to miss our flight. She looked at my ID, checked a screen, and chirped, "Oh, you're on the watch list."
WT@&(!@}#+F? We fly 3 or 4 times a year and have never had a problem before. As directed, we reported to our original gate (the plane took off while we were getting through security) to pick up my boarding pass and get on the standby list for the next flight.
Except that it was the wrong place. After much conferring among staff, consulting of many screens, and a long phone call, we were told to instead go clear across the airport to the gate for the next flight. It was already not just full, but overbooked. No, they couldn't put us on the standby list from where we were.
I don't think I've mentioned that I use a cane.
We schlepped over there as fast as I could and made it in time to be numbers 4 and 5 on the standby list once my pass was finally issued. I took some Tylenol 3 and started calling the people who needed to know we'd be late.
By now we had a pretty good idea what the problem must be -- absolutely nothing else in our public profiles had changed since the last time we flew. I'd actually considered the possibility of something like this before I posted, but discounted it because of the many people I know who post far more rude and inflammatory comments daily on myriad blogs. However, they all seem to still be under the radar. I had to go and do it on Daily Bloody Kos.
Oddly, my dominant emotion wasn't anger, but a certain grim validation. It turns out there is tangible satisfaction, even a little relief, in having proof that no, you are not paranoid, things really are at least as bad as you think.
We made the standby flight after all. 2 friends of ours heading to the same event turned out to be on that flight and we managed to get contiguous seats in the boarding melee. From that point on, it was a smashing weekend full of good friends and great music. We missed only the costume tea party and opening concert.
Of course, we discussed our misadventure. Even the few conservatives (being real conservatives) were appalled. The consensus was that for our own protection, we should publicize this incident as much as possible. Some experienced protesters with FBI files dating back to Hoover gave us encouragement and useful advice.
Several people asked if the problem could be someone else with my name or something similar. I replied that I had googled several variants of my name with that in mind and found only 2 possibilities. One is heavily involved in bicycle racing in the Midwest; the other seems to have no online presence but an Amazon.com wish list. Neither seems a likely suspect.
I was surprised and genuinely touched that a number of people asked to shake my hand because I "spoke truth to power" -- even some Canadians! It seems that many of our sensible northern neighbors are sincerely grieved at how far from its best self the United States has fallen.
Surprisingly, the return trip was uneventful. We were even able to print out our boarding passes before we left the hotel. Of course, there's lingering concern about what might happen next time, especially on our annual international flight. But if anyone thinks that we and the millions of other Americans who still value the Constitution and the rule of law can be so easily intimidated, I give them a message I learned from some British friends:
GET STUFFED.
Sorry for the long delay in posting this followup. Between the sinus infection I took with me on the trip, the 2 rounds of antibiotics it took to get rid of it, and the miserable cold I brought home, I haven't been fit to write until now. While I acknowledge the possibility my problem was due to coincidence or mistaken identity, the timing is just too suspicious. Again, nothing else I have done since the last time I flew would have triggered this incident. To paraphrase Dylan, you don't need Occam's Razor to know which way the wind is blowing.
A final note for the all the J. Michael Straczynski fans out there: it was only once I had my boarding pass and confirmation that we made the standby flight that I realized we would be departing from...
<Drum roll. Cymbal crash.>
...Gate B5!